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RECEPTION 



GIVEN TO 



THURLOW WEED 



ElG II T V -t II I RD T3l RTH DAY, 



November 15, 1880, 



NEW YORK PRESS CLUB. 



THE RECEPTION 



Thurlow Weed 



Eighty-third Birthday 



New York Press Club, 



[FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION.] 



ALBANY: 

WEED, PARSONS AND COMPANY, PRINTERS. 
l88o. 



t r v C 



Gift from 
Mrs. Opal Logan Kunz 
.2C, 1933 



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/ ./_ / 



MR. WEED'S BIRTHDAY RECEPTION. 



From the Chicago Journal, Nov. 13. 

A beautiful and lasting compliment has been paid the veteran 
journalist and politician, Thurlow Weed, in the adoption, by the 
New York Press Club, of a resolution whereby the regular annual 
meetings of that select body are to be held henceforth on his 
birthday, November 15. The first reception which Mr. Weed 
will attend, if able, falls on next Monday, and a grand time is 
promised. The guest of the club, after his years of memorable 
labor in journalistic and political arenas, will be accorded all the 
honors and privileges due to the closing years of a beneficent life. 

Thurlow Weed is now a fine old gentleman — feeble, stooped 
and gray, to be sure — but continuing in the possession of his 
mental faculties to a remarkable degree. His age is 83 years, yet 
he is almost daily seen on the streets, transacting his private 
business. He has many friends and admirers, who greet him 
warmly, and the most favored among them is the one who re- 
ceives an invitation to dine at his home. 

"My home," he says, "is No. 12 Twelfth street ; be there at 
one o'clock to dinner." 

No. 12 West Twelfth street is only a little way off Broadway, 
and near the heart of the great metropolis. The house is of solid 
material, large and comfortable in appearance. From the street 
the visitor is ushered into a broad hall, and from the hall to the 
left into a large room filled with pictures, mostly portraiture, from 
ceiling to baseboard, even the outside and inside panels of the 
door being thickly covered — a curious, interesting place — and 



6 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

this is the aged editor's sanctum. The owner and occupant half 
rises from a pillowed lounge in the rear of the room, and greets 
the caller in a kindly, fatherly way, while gently stroking a pet 
dove which sits at his feet and responds to the touch with grate- 
ful cooings. Rising and pointing out various pictures, Mr. Weed 
tells one that these all represent friends and acquaintances of his 
life, and each has a history to him —paintings, lithographs and 
photographs of Lincoln, Seward, De Witt Clinton and Lafayette, 
among the older school, and Blaine, Sherman, Garfield and many 
others of later-day politics, besides portraits of celebrated church 
dignitaries of various denominations, both Catholic and Protest- 
ant. There are also cartoons tacked up, and these Mr. Weed 
seems to enjoy immensely, though the caricatures are directed 
against himself, and issued in the heated days of the War of 
Principle, or struggle over slavery. 

Leaving the pictures the guest is shown volumes of correspond- 
ence from the handwriting of all the great of our Nation for fifty 
years past, Mr. Weed having, no doubt, the most valuable collec- 
tion of this kind in the country. 

At the call for dinner the host leads the way up a broad stairs 
to a large dining-room facing the street, and at the table in the 
center may usually be seen Mr. Weed serving the meats, while 
his daughter Harriet, a lady of noble bearing, presides at the urns, 
serving, with the aid of a colored servant, the family circle of from 
four to six, generally grandchildren, and such outside visitors as 
may be present. The hour is made enjoyable by intelligent con- 
versation, chiefly on topics suggested by Mr. Weed in the rela- 
tion of anecdotes or reminiscences of public men and public life 
in the years of the war and previous. Of these, Mr. Weed holds 
in his memory scores, of the utmost interest, unwritten and un- 
preserved elsewhere. His friends, with himself, frequently feel 
that he should gain time from the cares of property to give them 
an enduring place in chronicled history. 

Before the favored visitor leaves the home of Thurlow Weed, 
he becomes cognizant of the unsurpassed orderliness of the house. 
In the great, neat supply department there are almost tons of 
fruits, preserves, fancy provisions and general culinary luxuries 
and necessities, all attended to and put up, as Mr. Weed proudly 
observes, by his daughter. And this daughter does another 
thing of notable interest — every first of the month she stands all 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 7 

day long at the back door and parcels out to the poor old women 
of New York city the contents of a full chest of good tea and a 
full barrel of fine sugar. This custom has been kept up by the 
family for many years with an almost religious precision. 

Mr. Weed is the soul of liberality, as well as of hospitality. 
So well known is his name in alms-giving that his days are pes- 
tered with applicants for relief, worthy and unworthy claiming 
something from his purse every hour. It is beyond his nature to 
turn the needy away, and the blessing of a fortune puts him in a 
position where he does much good through his charitable heart. 

The honor intended to be extended the veteran humanitarian 
by the press of New York is reaffirmed by the press and people 
of the country, and particularly by the many who have followed, 
as pupils, the political principles so early promulgated by him as 
master. 



Albany Evening Journal, Nov. 15. 

Thurlow Weed, who fifty years ago, the 22d of last March, 
founded the Albany Evening Journal, and who, on the occasion of 
the semi-centennial birthday of the paper, reassumed its editorship 
long enough to write its leader, to-day enters upon his eighty- 
fourth year. Honored wherever distinguished services for the 
country are honored, admired wherever there is admiration for 
consummate leadership, loved wherever there is love for unfal- 
tering and unselfish devotion to the interests of a great party, 
his is an old age full of the kindliest of compensations. To-day, 
as he sits surrounded by those nearest and dearest to him, mes- 
sages freighted with heartiest congratulations and best wishes are 
being wafted to this Nestor of politics and journalism, from all 
parts of the land. None hold him in higher regard than his old 
friends in this city in which he achieved his fame, and, in express- 
ing their feeling, we have only to add — what we are sure we need 
not tell him — that no greeting that reaches him will be more 
sincere or heartfelt than that which conveys the gratitude and 
affection of those who have succeeded him in this paper. 



8 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 



Indianapolis Journal. 

The New York Press Club has paid a beautiful compliment to 
the veteran journalist and politician, Thurlow Weed, by resolv- 
ing to hold the annual meetings of that body on the anniversary 
of his birthday, November 15. The first reception will be held 
this evening, and Mr. Weed will attend if age and infirmity will 
permit. He is now eighty-three years old, and yet his mind is 
keen and alert and all his intellectual faculties well preserved. If 
he is able to attend the reception of the Press Club this evening, 
he will be accorded all the honors due to his age and position. 



New York Tribune. 

The reception, upon the occurrence of his eighty-third birth- 
day, given last evening to Mr. Thurlow W r eed by the New York 
Press Club, was an occasion which might give rise to many inter- 
esting reflections. Mr. Weed has not permitted his advancing 
years to diminish his interest in public affairs. Not only has he 
kept up a close and patriotic observation of our politics, but he 
has frequently given to the public his opinions of their various 
phases through the Tribune. In these, notwithstanding his many 
years, no one has yet been able to discover any decay of his per- 
ceptive faculties, and still less any abatement of his ardor as a 
citizen. 

Mr. Weed's experience as a journalist, or as an observer still 
maintaining his love of journalism, covers considerably more than 
half a century. Without holding public office, he has had as 
much to do as any man of his time with our various political 
vicissitudes. He has been for many years the counselor of his 
party, and his suggestions have always been sought and acted 
upon, not only by party managers but by those who held high 
places in the Government. He has given to us an exhibition of 
wisdom and integrity, exercised in behalf of the Republic, with- 
out any reference to official reward or personal emolument. His 
many years, with the noble way in which they have been spent, 
have entitled him, whenever he pleases to speak, to the respect- 
ful hearing of the whole country. 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 9 

But those who practice the art preservative of all arts have 
special reason to be proud of Mr. Weed as an associate. He, too, 
is one of the celebrated printers who went from the case and the 
press to the editorial desk, and to the cabinets of statesmen. 
Printers love to enumerate the distinguished men whom they 
may claim as fellow-craftsmen, and there is no one, not even 
Franklin, of whom they are prouder than Mr. Thurlow Weed. 



New York Times. 

The fall reception of the Press Club, held last evening in its 
pleasant rooms at No. 121 Nassau street, was made an occasion 
for honoring the veteran journalist, Thurlow Weed, on the eighty- 
third anniversary of his birth. The spacious parlors were attract- 
ively embellished with a loan collection of paintings, gracefully 
entwined flags, and a profusion of flowers. A large floral emblem, 
bearing the word " Age," especially designed in honor of the 
anniversary of Mr. Weed's birthday, rested on the table of the 
President, and from the chandeliers and walls depended sprays of 
smilax. More than 200 guests responded to the invitations of 
the Club * * * 

The reception exercises were begun at 8:30 P. M. Mr. Weed, 
who reached the Club-rooms shortly before that time, was escorted 
to a seat beside President Penney. The next place of honor was 
assigned to Gen. Webb, and around him and Mr. Weed were 
grouped the gentlemen whose names have been mentioned as 
being included in the list of guests. Mr. J. W. Simonton, in 
presenting Mr. Weed to the assembled company, said it might 
be doubted whether any man now living, " other than this much- 
loved Nestor of the press," had ever exercised so wide and deep 
an influence upon the destinies of the country. * * * * 

Mr. Simonton reviewed the career of the honored guest of the 
evening as a soldier, printer, journalist and statesman. The jour- 
nalists of New York, he added, had reason to feel justly proud of 
their friend and co-laborer. His life story was familiar to all, as 
an indestructible part of the brilliant record of American states- 
manship and journalism during more than half the whole life 
of the American Republic. 

Mr. Weed was deeply affected by the remarks of Mr. Simon- 
ton, and did not attempt to essay a response until after brief 



10 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

addresses had been delivered by Gen. James Watson Webb, 
Erastus Brooks, Whitelaw Reid, and Robert J. Burdette. After 
these gentlemen had spoken, he rose simply to relate an incident 
suggested by a remark of one of the speakers, touching the cir- 
cumstances of his first meeting with Horace Greeley. This meet- 
ing was, Mr. Weed explained, the origin of the copartnership 
subsequently effected between the members of the firm of Sew- 
ard, Weed & Greeley. After pleasant speeches by Postmaster 
James, Algernon S. Sullivan, Henry Hyland Garnett, the Hon. 
William E. Robinson, David M. Stone, and others, the Club's 
guests were entertained with recitations by Mr. Charles Roberts 
and Mr. A. P. Burbank. and musical exercises by Arbuckle, A. 
Liberati, George Werrenrath, and Messrs. Filoteo, Castelli, Case 
and Belari. The reception terminated at an early hour this 
mornincf. 



THE ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 



In presenting Mr. Weed to the President and members of the 
Club, Mr. J. W. Simonton, of the Associated Press, spoke as fol- 
lows : 

It may be doubted whether any man now living, other than 
this much-loved Nestor of the American press, has ever exercised 
so wide and deep an influence upon the destinies of our country. 
What has been the secret of his wonderful power? The answer, 
it seems to me, is this: While others have been able and wise 
and patriotic, Mr. Weed, more than any other in the journalistic 
profession, who has impressed himself upon the times, recognized 
that as the creator is greater than the creature, so the king-maker 
is greater than the king, [applause] at least, in power for useful- 
ness. And so Mr. Weed has always preferred to be a conscien- 
tious king-maker, rather than to sit upon the throne and wield its 
sceptre. During his long career his efforts have been steadily 
addressed to molding and shaping the public opinion which, in 
a free government, is king at last. He realized that his influence 
could be best broadened and conserved by earnest work in the 
editorial chair. [Applause.] And so, while always striving 
faithfully and well to put whatever cause his pen espoused into 
the hands of capable administrators, he ever and resolutely 
pushed aside the honors of high office which were within his per- 
sonal grasp. Thus no suspicion of self-seeking could impair his 
power for good ; and thus, also, his thoughtful, wise, and unselfish 
use of the influence commanded by his exceptional talents, won 
for him that general respect, admiration and love of which we, 
here and now, tender him our most cordial expression. [Ap- 
plause.] 



12 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

A volunteer in the war of 1812, I believe he never again 
eneaeed in official service until 1861. Then, when our country 

• 

was in the throes of revolution, Lincoln — recognizing his social 
charm, no less than his logical power, directness of purpose and 
marked capacity for terse and vigorous statement — [applause] 
invited him to visit Europe, as a citizen representative of the 
Union cause, to mingle in the society of the capitals of England 
and France, and there to create and stimulate a sentiment against 
foreign intervention in American affairs. The danger of such 
intervention was the one half-hidden rock lying in the path of our 
Ship of State, which, perhaps more than any other, imperiled its 
safety during the cloud and tempest of that critical hour. Mr, 
Weed promptly accepted this call to duty, though unheralded by 
official proclamation, and with no hope of other reward than 
consciousness of duty done. Himself a printer, he followed in 
the footsteps of the printer Franklin, and served the Nation as 
well at the Court of St. Cloud as Franklin did at an earlier crisis 
in our Nation's life. [Prolonged applause.] The golden link 
which thus connects the names of Benjamin Franklin and Thur- 
low Weed will can')- them down together in history, to be cher- 
ished among the choicer memories oi a grateful posterity. It 
is our proud distinction that their reflected light will also and 
ever illuminate the records of the journalistic craft to which 
we belong. Let this thought inspire us to higher aims, to nobler 
purpose and grander endeavor. 

Why should I dilate upon our friend's life history? It is famil- 
iar to you all, as an indestructible part of the brilliant record of 
American statesmanship and journalism, during more than half of 
our whole life as an independent people — or from 1818 to nearly 
1 88 1. We are justly proud of it, and our hearts overflow with 
affection for the manly man — at once our father and our brother 
in the craft — whose presence within these rooms gives us so 
much pleasure. With gratitude to God who has spared him so 
long to his country and mankind, 1 know that every heart here 
pulsates with mine in the hope that he may still enjoy added years 
of happy and graceful usefulness, before he is called to go up 
higher and receive the reward awaiting all who truly strive to 
glorify the brotherhood of men. [Applause.] 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 13 



Speech of Hon. James Watson Webb. 

General James Watson Webb was introduced as the oldest liv- 
ing journalist in America. He said : 

I didn't know that I should be called upon to say any thing 
this evening. I did not say positively that I could attend until 
i P. M. to-day, when I penned a letter of acceptance from my 
sick bed. But I could not let such an opportunity pass to meet 
one with whom I have been on terms of friendship so many years. 
[Hearty applause.] I first met Mr. Weed in 1814 [applause], 
when we were both in the army, he as a volunteer, and with the 
exception of two or three weeks [laughter], when we quarreled 
over the question of abolitionism, we have been firm friends ever 
since. I join heartily in this tribute to Mr. Weed. In his long 
career of usefulness no one has accomplished more or made firmer 
friends than he. 

General Webb recounted an amusing anecdote about a num- 
ber of Democratic editors from Albany who chartered a 
steamboat to come to New York and obtain from him (he 
was then the editor of the Courier and Enquirer) advance copies 
of President Jackson's inaugural message. The object was to 
beat the Journal. It ended with Mr. Weed's obtaining an earlier 
copy than any of his rivals, and by a stratagem obtaining also 
the steamboat which had brought them down and departing for 
Albany. 



Speech of Hon. Erastus Brooks. 

Erastus Brooks, for forty-one years, with his brother James, an 
editor and part owner of the New York Express, was called upon, 
and spoke as follows : 

I am always glad to meet old friends, especially one whom I 
have known so - many years as Mr. Weed. I recall with great 
interest the striking incidents in his long career of usefulness. 
He has been an observer of most of the striking incidents in the 
life of this Nation. It is something to remember that die has 
lived under all the eighteen Presidents of this Nation. He was 
a child during the administration of Washington. With the 
majority he has been on terms of intimacy. Of the twenty-five 
Governors of New York he has voted for nearly all. He has 



14 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

witnessed more of the chances and changes of life than fall to 
the lot of most men. He has seen this Nation rise from a small 
beginning and become one of the mightiest of the earth. He 
has seen its population increase from 5,000,000 to 50,000,000; he 
has lived through two wars besides our own civil war. He 
remembers the abolition of the slave trade in 1808, and he saw 
the. abolition of slavery in this country at a later period. He 
remembers the embargo in 1809, and its removal. He remem- 
bers the great fire of 1835, which occurred soon after I came to 
New York, when 500 or 600 private residences were burned, 
besides public buildings. Mr. Weed is many newspapers in his 
own proper person. I have witnessed the rise of 125 newspapers 
in this city. Of these only six now remain. 

The speaker closed with a tribute to Mr. Weed. His address, 
of which the above is a very imperfect outline, was frequently 
applauded . 



Speech of Hon. White law Re id. 

After the speech of Mr. Brooks, Dr. J. B. Wood, Chairman of 
the Committee of Arrangements, called the attention of the 
meeting to the group of portraits hung on the side of the hall, 
festooned with the National colors. Thurlow Weed was in the 
center, with William H. Seward on one side and Horace Greeley 
on the other. He spoke of the presence of the only survivor of 
the famous copartnership, referred to a dispatch just received 
from Mr. Seward's Son, Frederick, and called on Whitelaw Reid, 
on behalf of the remaining member, to speak of the famous 
political firm of "Seward, Weed & Greeley." Mr. Reid said: 

This call reminds me of the first time I ever had the pleasure 
of seeing your efficient chairman. I had just come on, an 
unsophisticated youth, from the wilds of bashful Ohio, and had 
been drawn to the most bucolic point of Manhattan Island — the 
office of a newspaper which perhaps need not be further desig- 
nated. [Applause. J I was not familiar with its ways, did not 
even know how to put the office marks for type, etc., on my copy, 
and was referred to the chairman of your committee for instruc- 
tions. I shall never forget the first order he gave me, and it 
seems particularly appropriate now — "cut it down one-half." 
[Prolonged laughter.] Not long after this he migrated to 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 15 

the shop over the way. I used to fancy that whenever 
my name came up afterward, he gave the old order in a slightly 
changed form — " cut him up." [Laughter.] He asks me now 
to speak, and in this presence, of the famous partnership of 
Seward, Weed & Greeley. The time for speaking frankly and 
fully of that firm has not yet come. This, however, we may 
fairly say : It was the greatest political triumvirate this State, 
or indeed the country, ever knew. [Applause.] This, also, we 
may fairly say: When this partnership was dissolved, each mem- 
ber retained the highest respect for the commanding power 
and ability of each of his late associates, and each cher- 
ished it to the end. [Applause, Mr. Weed interrupting, 
"That is true — to the end."] It shaped the politics of this 
State and of the country during a most critical formative period. 
It carried us safely through the death throes of the old Whig 
party, and shaped the development and growth of the lusty suc- 
cessor that abolished slavery, put down the greatest civil war of 
modern times, and has ruled the country for well-nigh a genera- 
tion. If it be true that one result of the dissolution of this firm 
was the nomination of Abraham Lincoln, then I am sure no man 
rejoices, or ever did rejoice, more heartily over the dissolution 
than does the venerable survivor to night. [Applause, Mr. Weed 
adding, " Yes, indeed."] It is a pleasure that the acerbities of 
the separation have long faded out. There are some here who 
will remember that an arrangement had been made to bring 
about a meeting between the two great political editors, which 
was only prevented by the events of 187.?, and the tragic close. 
They did come together, but it was only over the coffin of one, 
with the other among the first of the pall-bearers at a funeral 
where men represented alike the official dignity, and the heart of 
the city and nation. Both of Mr. Weed's old associates are long 
gone each full of years and of honor. Each fills a great space in 
our history. The memory of each is tenderly cherished. Who 
that remembers Seward and Greeley can fail in gratitude to this 
surviving Nestor of our politics, who guided the one and dis- 
covered the other? [Applause.] His way of life is, indeed, fallen 
into the sere and yellow leaf, but as he looks about him, here or 
wherever he goes, he may be sure that he has to the full — 

That which should accompany old age, 
Honor, love, obedience, troops of friends. 



16 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

Speech of Tliurlow Weed. 

Mr. Weed, rising slowly to his feet, next spoke. He said that 
he would not have attempted to say a word, but for a remark let 
fall by his friend Mr. Reid, respecting the "discovery" of Mr. 
Greeley. Mr. Weed spoke as follows: 

I will not detain you long. I cannot express to you my deep and 
profound sense of gratification at the honor you have shown me. 

But I wish to say a word or two as to the manner in which I 
became acquainted with one of the trio with whom my name has 
been mentioned. It was anticipated that the presidential cam- 
paign of 1840 would be a very warm one. The Whig Com- 
mittee of this State were very anxious to establish a campaign 
paper, something new in those days. The chairman asked me to 
find an editor for the proposed paper. I had been struck with 
some articles in a weekly paper published in this city, called The 
New Yorker, favoring protection to American industry. Mr. 
Greeley was the publisher of the paper. I came to New York and 
went to the office of £he paper. One of the first persons whom 
I met was a compositor standing at his case, and when I asked 
for Mr. Greeley he said he was the man. I asked for the author 
of the articles in question, and was told by Mr. Greeley that he 
wrote them. The Chairmam of the State Committee was with 
me, and the question of a campaign paper was at once broached. 
Mr. Greeley agreed to come up to Albany once a week and 
to devote two days in each week to editing the paper. The 
remainder of the time he needed for his own establishment. I 
will say here that Mr. Greeley could do more intellectual labor 
than any man I ever saw. He became acquainted with Mr. 
Seward during that campaign. The work which Mr. Greeley 
did at that time was appreciated by all of us. And so gradually 
sprang up the political firm of Seward, Weed & Greeley. There 
was much in Mr. Greeley's disposition to endear him to all with 
whom he came in close contact. I have never known a man 
capable of doing more work, or better newspaper work than he. 
In those days political discussions were often exceedingly sharp. 
It is a great consolation to me, to reflect that friendship was 
unbroken between me and many of my bitterest political oppo- 
nents. The members of the Albany Regency, all of them strong 
men politically, and with whom I was at war for nearly, or 
quite a quarter of a century, were nevertheless my warm per- 
sonal friends. [Prolonged applause.] 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 17 

Otlicr Speeches. 

Besides the remarks given above, there were other speeches of 
great interest. Hon. Algernon S. Sullivan spoke of Mr. Weed's 
kindness of heart. Hon. George Dawson, editor of the Albany 
Evening Journal, who was introduced as " Mr. Weed's oldest 
apprentice, and for many years his associate on the Journal" 
spoke at length, giving reminiscences of Mr. Weed's early days, 
his unfailing benevolence to needy printers and others, and the 
sagacity which he evinced in all public affairs at an early age. 

Hon. Wm. E. Robinson, of Brooklyn, made a brief address, 
which was full of animation and suggestiveness. Mr. R. J. Bur- 
dette, of the Burlington Hawkeye, delivered a speech full of wit 
and wisdom. Mr. David M. Stone, for the past fifteen years edi- 
tor of the Journal of Commerce, made one of the happiest 
speeches of the evening. Postmaster James also spoke, express- 
ing his high appreciation of Mr. Weed's character and public ser- 
vices. The Rev. Henry Highland Garnett was called upon, and 
responded on behalf of the colored race, thanking Mr, Weed for 
the aid which he had extended to, and the sympathy which he 
had felt for the abolition movement. 



LETTERS OF REGRET. 



During the evening the President of the Club read a number of 
the following letters : 

From one of the Oldest Living Journalists. 

Syracuse, N. Y., Nov. 13, 1880. 
Wm. N. Penney, Esq. : 

My Dear Sir — I received this morning, through you as Presi- 
dent, an invitation from the New York Press Association, to 
attend a meeting of that society in the city of New York on the 
15th inst., to celebrate the eighty-third anniversary of the birth 
of its oldest member, my life-long friend and esteemed fellow- 
craftsman, Mr. Thurlow Weed. 

It would give me great pleasure to be present on that occasion, 
but the distance, the fickleness of the weather, and more than 
these, the infirmities of advanced age forbid me to make the 
effort. If I live until the 26th inst., I shall have passed my 88th 
birthday. 

In 1807, nearly three quarters of a century ago, I was an 
indentured apprentice in the old Repository office of the late 
Mr. J. D. Binns at Canandaigua. I devoted nearly thirty years 
of my life to my chosen profession. They were the best and the 
happiest years of my life, notwithstanding the great amount of 
unrequited labor incident to journalism. 

Please present my sincere thanks to the members of the Club 
for their cordial invitation and kind remembrance of me. 

I beg you will also convey to Mr. Weed, your venerable guest, 
my sincere and hearty congratulations on the occasion of the 
eighty-third anniversary of his birth, blessed with health and 
strength to enable him to preside over and guide, by his ripe 
judgment and experience, the deliberations of your Club. 



20 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

I trust his vigorous constitution will preserve him in comfort- 
able health for many years. 

Very truly yours, 

L. H. REDFIELD. 

Despatch from Frederick W. Seward. 

Montrose, N. Y., November 15, 1880. 
William N. Penney, 

President Press Club, 119 Nassau St., N. Y. : 
I regret that I am unable to accept your kind invitation. 
With best wishes and cordial felicitations. 

F. W. SEWARD. 



From the Editor of the Philadelphia Times. 

Philadelphia, Pa., November 13, 1880. 

H. C. LUKENS, Esq. : 

Dear Sir — I have delayed answering your kind invitation of 
the 8th, to join your Club in the reception to Thurlow Weed, 
hoping to be able to attend, but I find that it will be impossible. 

It would be a special gratification to me to join you in honor- 
ing Mr. Weed, who has made himself single from his editorial 
associates in the country, in asserting the power and dignity of 
the newspaper press, by placing it above all official positions. 

Very truly yours, 

A. K. McCLURE. 

From the Editor of Harper s Weekly. 

West New Brighton, Staten Island, N. Y., ) 
gt/i November, 1880. j" 

My Dear Sir — I regret exceedingly that previous engage- 
ments prevent me from paying my respects in person to Mr. 
Weed at the Press Club on Monday evening. But no one of the 
editorial fraternity can more cordially wish for him continued 
health and prosperity than I. And certainly no one has shown 
more conspicuously than he how great an influence may be 
exerted upon practical politics without official position. 
Very respectfully yours, 

GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS. 
JOHN B. WOOD, Esq., Chairman. 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 21 

From the Managing Editor of the New York Herald. 

New York, November 15, [880. 

My Dear Sir — I regret very much that I cannot be with 
you to-night, to join with you in the celebration of the eighty- 
third anniversary of the birth of Mr. Thurlow Weed, who, to 
quote from your own language, " has so long been a distin- 
tinguished and revered member" of the profession to which I 
have the honor to belong. 

Your invitation, however, affords me an opportunity to express 
the admiration and respect I feel for the venerable gentleman, 
whose career as journalist and statesman has been marked by the 
broadest benevolence, generosity and patriotism. If all news- 
paper men would only study and imitate the shining example of 
your illustrious guest, how much more agreeable would be the 
post of journalist to-day ! 

I have the honor to be with much esteem, 

Yours very truly, 

THOMAS B. CONNERY. 
Mr. W. N. PENNEY, President. 



From the Editor of the Livingston Republican. 

Geneseo, November 13, 1880. 
Mr. Wm. N. Penney: 

Sir — I am in receipt of your favor of the 4th, inviting me to 
the celebration, by the New York Press Club, of the eighty-third 
anniversary of the birthday of Mr. Thurlow Weed. 

It would give me great pleasure to accept your invitation, but 
I shall be unable to do so. There is no man in the journalistic 
ranks whom I hold in such esteem and veneration as the distin- 
guished gentleman whom you propose to honor. 

I have known him forty years, but have known of him for more 

than half a century. I first met him upon the deck of a canal 

boat at Syracuse, at the great Whig meeting September 16, 1840, 

and have had frequent evidence of his kindness, for which I shall 

never cease to be grateful. 

Very respectfully, 

S. P. ALLEN. 



22 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

From 0. Follett. 

SANDUSKY, November 13, 1880. 
William N. Penney : 

DEAR Sir — I received this morning your invitation to partici- 
pate, with the Club, in the celebration of the eighty-third anniver- 
sary of the birth of mine ancient friend Thurlow Weed. 

Few things, Mr. President, would afford me more pleasure. I 
have known Mr. Weed for more than half a century, and through 
good and through evil report we have always been personal 
friends, though not always in perfect political agreement. 

Your invitation came too late to make it convenient to meet 
your time. You should have considered that old bodies as well 
as large bodies "move slow." 

Thanking you for the kind remembrance and wishing, to com- 
pany and guest alike, peace, joy and health, 

I am, your obedient servant, 

O. FOLLETT. 



From " Mrs. Partington." 

Chelsea, November 10, 1880. 

My Dear Mr. LUKENS — Feeling a warm sympathy with the 
object of your meeting on Monday, it is with great regret that I 
confess my /^ability, from lability, to be present on the occa- 
sion. " Providence and minor things," as you put the contin- 
gency of my coming, not being " equal," I am constrained, very 
reluctantly, to decline your cordial invitation. It would give me 
great satisfaction to add my tribute to that of the Press Club in 
honoring Thurlow Weed, now the chief patriarch of journalism. 
There is no man in our profession whom I would more gladly 
honor than Mr. Weed, whom I have known so long, by the letter, 
and respected in the spirit, though we were on different sides of 
the political hedge. Like Col. Dumas, I feel more respect for 
one I have so long fought with, and to clasp his hand after more 
than forty years' antagonism, were a privilege that I hate to forego. 
But I have to, under existing circumstances, and beg you to pre- 
sent my regrets to the Association, thanking them, and you, for 
the polite invitation. At the suggestion of " Mrs. P." 1 append 
the following sentiment : 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 23 

The Veteran Editor — May his fidelity, integrity, intelligence 
andyearsbe transmitted to his successors, as the " mantle-piece " 
of the Hebrew prophet fell on the shoulders of Elisha, and may 
the example of Thurlow Weed be a continual light to their path, 
however they may vote. 

Yours, fraternally but hastily, 

B. P. SHILLABER. 



From Samuel L. Clemens. 

Hartford, November % 1880. 
My DEAR Mr. LukenS — I should like it very much but I am 
booked otherwise for that day. I wish Mr. Weed and the rest 
of the boys a good time. 

Truly yours, 

MARK TWAIN. 



From James Parton. 

Newburyport, Mass., November 10, 1880. 

My DEAR Sir — I am so immersed in work at present, that I 
am obliged to deny myself the very great pleasure of being with 
you on Monday evening next. It was only yesterday that I met 
a passage in the Diary of John Quincy Adams, which showed 
that during the presidency of that excellent man, Mr. Thurlow 
Weed was already an active, influential and patriotic politician. 
He has, I believe, influenced or admonished every administration 
since ; and always, I am sure, with the best intentions ; often, 
with the happiest effects. He was fortunate in entering journal- 
ism when the path upward (always difficult) had not become 
nearly impossible, and when in order to direct an influential 
newspaper, it was not necessary to own a million dollars. 

The intellectual element of the press seems now trodden under 
the feet of millionaires. Ask your venerable guest what the ele- 
ment aforesaid ought to do about it. I am confident he could 
give valuable hints. 

With sincere thanks for the honor of your invitation, I remain, 

Very truly yours, 

JAMES PARTON. 
H. Clay Lukens, Esq. 



2i RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

From the Editor of the New York Commercial. 

New York, November 12, 1880. 
William N. Penney, Esq., 

President New York Press Club : 

MY Dear Sir — Your kind invitation to attend a gathering 
of the New York Press Club to celebrate the eighty-third anni- 
versary of the birth of its oldest member, Thurlow Weed, is 
received, and I regret very much that I cannot be present. The 
members of the Club and Mr. Weed will excuse me when I men- 
tion that I am prevented by influences that every married 
member of the Club as a rule bows to. It is my thirty-seventh 
marriage anniversary, and the woman of the house insists, while 
she has the greatest regard and the warmest affection for her old 
friend and neighbor, Mr. Weed, that she has stronger claims on 
me than any one else. 

Mr. Penney, if you are a married man, you must know how it 
is yourself, and of course I must submit and stay at home like a 
true and devoted husband, and celebrate the occasion. I regret 
exceedingly that two such interesting events should occur at the 
same time. 

It would afford me great pleasure to be present on Monday 
evening and join in celebrating the eighty-third birthday of my 
old friend Mr. Weed. My acquaintance and association com- 
menced with him in the fall of 1838, when I made my maiden 
speech for Seward, at the Whig headquarters in Market street, 
opposite the Eagle Tavern, Albany. I have followed his fortunes 
as a leader from that time to this, with occasional irregulari- 
ties. If I differed with him occasionally, my devotion and 
admiration of him as a true man never changed. I know him 
better than most men alive, having wintered and summered with 
him for nearly forty years. May the balance of his life be peace 
and happiness. 

Truly yours, 

HUGH J. HASTINGS. 

From the Editor of the Independent. 

New York, Nov. 13, 1880. 
Wm. N. Penney, Esq., President: 

DEAR Sir — I am in receipt of your very kind invitation to be 

present and join in with the New York Press Club in celebrating 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

the eighty-third anniversary of the birth of Mr. Thurlow Weed, 

for which honor please accept my thanks. ] find I must deny 
myself the pleasure of meeting Mr. Weed, yourself and the mem- 
bers of your respected Association ; but I cannot forbear saying, 
that in my judgment, your honorable and honored guest is worthy 
of the highest respect and best wishes of every journalist and 
patriot in the country. His natural gifts and endowments, his 
great wisdom in dealing with public questions, his able advice in 
times of peril and bitter political strife, together with his 
great kindness of heart and unselfish desire to do good to all men, 
have converted his enemies — if ever he had any — and made him 
an army of friends, who will be glad to know of his continued 
health, happiness and prosperity. Permit me to offer him, 
through you, my hearty congratulations on this eventful occa- 
sion, and if he will accept the advice of an humble member of the 
craft, to wish that he will continue to hold on to the old quill. 
that he will not lay aside the harness as a laborer with us, and 
that he may be able many, many times to meet you on the anni- 
versary occasion to receive the greetings and good wishes of the 
members of your Club. With great respect, etc., 

HENRY C. BOWEN. 

P. S. — If I were present and permitted the opportunity I would 
offer the following sentiment : 

Our venerable and highly-respected guest — a living illustra- 
tion that journalism can produce in a single man the qualities 
needed in the Presidential chair and the halls of Congress, in a 
court of justice, or in any home or foreign service, where wisdom, 
justice and patriotism are of more value than gold or guns, or 
armies. 



From a Famous Correspondent. 
Brevoort House, New York, Nov. 13, 1880. 
DEAR SIR — I beg to thank you for the thoughtful courtesy 
of sending me an invitation to the reception to be given by the 
New York Press Club on the 15th prox. 

I need not say how gladly I will be present if my engage- 
ments will permit ; and with confraternal greeting to the Club 
over which you preside, I remain 

Sincerely yours, 
Wm. N. Penney, Esq. ARCHIBALD FORBES. 



26 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

From Jolin D. Parsons. 

Albany, Nov. 13, 1880. 
William N. Penney, 

President, etc., etc.: 
Dear Sir — Your note, inviting- me to participate with the 
New York Press Club in celebrating the eighty-third anniversary 
of its oldest member, Mr. Thurlow Weed, came to hand this 
morning. 

Nothing would afford me greater satisfaction than to be 
present at this birthday anniversary of my esteemed partner and 
friend, but having lately risen from a bed of sickness, I am advised 
that it would be unsafe for me to do so. 

Thanking you, and through you »the Club, for the invitation, 
and wishing you and the members of the Club, and especially 
your honored guest, happiness and long life, I remain 

Your humble servant, 

JOHN D. PARSONS. 

From Benson J. Lossing. 

The Ridge, Dover Plains, Dutchess Co., N. Y., ) 

November 10, 1880. • ) 

My DEAR Mr. LUKENS — Don't think me discourteous in not 
replying to your kind invitation to the Press Club. My excuse 
is absence from home until after the affair, and the expectation 
of seeing you before now. 

I should greatly enjoy meeting the venerable journalist, Mr. 
Weed, among so many of the craft next Monday, on the occa- 
sion of his eighty-third birthday, but I shall be deprived of the 
pleasure by an imperative call to Poughkeepsie at that time. I 
cordially thank you for the kind invitation. 

Yours, with great esteem, 
H. Clay Lukens, Esq. BENSON J. LOSSING. 

From " Ik. Marvel.'''' 

Edgewood, \oth November, 1880. 
My DEAR Sir — I am very sorry I cannot join in paying honor 
to one who is so worthy of all which your Club may have in store 
for him. Very truly yours, 

Mr. H. Clay Lukens. DON'D G. MITCHELL. 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

From E. C. Stedman. 

New York, November n, [880. 
W. N. Penney, Esq., 

President New York Press Club : 
Dear SIR — Accept my thanks for the invitation to be present 
at your celebration of the eighty-third birthday of Mr. Thurlow 
Weed, and my sincere regrets that the fact that I shall have 
guests at my house next Monday evening will prevent me from 
enjoying your hospitalities on that occasion. Otherwise I should 
be glad to join you in doing honor to the Nestor of journalism — 
a veteran whose wisdom and patriotism are inseparably connected 
with the history of the War for the Union. 

Very respectfully yours, 

EDMUND C. STEDMAN. 



From J. E. Frobisher. 

54 East 21st Street, » 

New York, November 10, 1880. j 
H. Clay Lukens : 

Dear Sir — lam in receipt of your kind invitation to the 
anniversary reception tendered to Hon. Thurlow Weed on 
Monday evening. But I don't see how it is possible for me to 
get away from my duties — without the greatest inconvenience. 
I have tried to worry out the problem and see what might be 
done as to being counted as one on that memorable occasion. I 
have even gone so far as not to wish that the honorable gentle- 
man had never been born, but that he had never been born on a 
Monday. Perhaps it is thoroughly selfish on my part, but one 
cannot always help one's thoughts, even though narrowed to per- 
sonal considerations. It is simply that I would like to come but 
can't. I must therefore be content to remember the good time 
you are having, and subscribe myself, 

Yours truly, J. E. FROBISHER. 



28 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

From Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

BOSTON, November 9, 1880. 
Dear Sir- — I am sorry that I cannot be with you on the fif- 
teenth. My duties at the college do not allow me to leave 
Boston at that time. 

With many thanks for your invitation to what must be a very 
pleasant meeting, I am, 

Yours very truly, 

O. W. HOLMES. 
H. Cray Lurens, Esq., N. Y. Press Club. 



From 1 1'. II. Hurlburt. 

The World, New York, Nov. 10, 1880. 
My Dear Sir — If I was to be in New York on Monday eve- 
ning next 1 certainly would be tempted to depart from my cus- 
toms and my ways in such matters, and to accept your very cordial 
invitation. But I expect to be out of town, and as you straitly 
and discreetly charge me not to send you a letter, 1 can only say 
that I should have been glad to see Mr. Weed in such good com- 
pany; that 1 wish you and the Press Club all manner of success, 
and that I am 

Very truly yours, 

Dr. John B. Wood. WM. HENRY HURLBURT. 



From Clarence A. Seward. 

Law Office of Seward, Blatchford, 1 

griswold am) i)\ ( '< ista, j- 

Ni<:\v York, Nov. 15, 1880, 1 p. u. ) 

WM. N. PENNEY, Esq., N. Y. Press Club: 

Dear SIR Your kind invitation inclosed in your courteous 
letter reaches me at this moment. Nothing would afford me 
greater pleasure than to testify, by my personal attendance at the 
gathering this evening, the high respect and affectionate regard 
which 1 have for your honored guest. It is a sincere disappoint- 
ment to me that I am not able to accept your invitation. I have 



RECEPTION TO.MR. WEED. 39 

another and imperative engagement, from which I cannol escape, 
which will detain me elsewhere. Uniting mo I heartily in all the 
kind and deserved expressions of esteem and respect which I 
know will greet Mr. Weed on this, the anniversary of his birth- 
day, I am, 

Very respectfully, etc., 

CLARENCE A. SEWARD. 



From the Editor of the Agriculturist. 

Fli shing, X. Y., Nov. 13, [880. 

Mr. W. N. Pennky, President, etc.: 

Dear Sir — Only three daws ago 1 received your kind imita- 
tion to be present at the celebration of Mr. Thurlow Weed's 
completion of his eighty-third year. 

As 1 reside in the country, I seldom go out evenings. I thought 
I must send my regrets for absence, but have delayed doing so 
from an increasing earnest desire to be with you. To-night 1 
have determined to venture an attendance, part of the evening, 
at least. 

Mr. Weed is one of the few remaining of those to whom I looked 
up for example and encouragement, when, nearly twenty-eight 
years ago, 1 assumed editorial charge of the journal which has ever 
since been 'under my direction and control, and which, 1 trust, 
has done somewhat in helping "make two blades of grass grow 
where only one grew before." My earlier prominent co-workers 
in the metropolis — Bryant, Greeley, Raymond, Hall, etc., etc — 
have nearly all laid down their pens with their lives. Indeed. 1 
do riot at this moment recall any one now in active life, of all 
those who were in charge of the leading city journals, daily or 
weekly, when 1 became "responsible editor" of the American 
Agriculturist, early in 1853. 

1 shall be quite happy to unite with the fraternity in doing 
honor to one greatly my senior in the profession, as well as my 
senior in age by over a score of years. 

1 am yours sincerely, 

ORANGE JUDD. 



30 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

From George W. Chi Ids. 

Public Ledcer Building, Philadelphia, ) 

November 10, 1880. f 

Dear Sir — " Hoping," as you kindly express it in your note, 
that I might so arrange affairs as to be able to accept the New 
York Press Club's invitation to join in the birthday reception to 
Thurlow Weed on the 15th inst., I have postponed reply until to- 
day, only to find imperative business engagements still in the way. 

It takes a matter of some urgency you may be sure, and some 
self-denial too, to keep me away from the reception that com- 
memorates the eighty-third anniversary of the dear old gentle- 
man's birthday — to enjoy once more the presence and the con- 
versation of the veteran exemplar of the virtue of growing old 
gracefully, and bearing the infirmities of far-advanced age with 
unflagging cheerfulness of spirit. Think of the volume of history 
covered by his eighty-three years of life, with all of which during 
his sixty-two years of manhood he was in close contact, and part 
of which he was ! I shall not attempt even a glance at it in this 
short letter, for the beginning goes back beyond the inauguration 
of DeWitt Clinton as Governor, and it seems an age since the 
era of that great statesman and friend of Thurlow Weed passed 
away. What a mass of eventful annals in your State and in the 
United States, between then and now, are called back to memory 
by the celebration of Mr. Weed's eighty-third birthday, even 
when we limit recollection to those only in which he* took active 
part, as counselor, negotiator, manager. These will doubtless 
be recounted at the reception from nearer memories than mine. 

An editor sixty-two years ago ! What a world of experience 
he has had, his influence coming down to date as suggester and 
adviser to his juniors, if not still actively with his own pen. 

His personal influence and action have left more continuous 
and enduring impress on the history of your State and of the 
Nation, than those of any other one man I can call to mind — and 
this without official station or official power in his possession. 
His has been a grand and inspiring career. 

With very great regret that I cannot be present on so interest- 
ing an occasion, I am, dear sir, 

Very truly yours, 

GEORGE W. CHILDS. 
H. Clay Lukens, Esq., of Committee, &e., New York Press Club. 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 31 

From Charles Dudley Warner. 

The Courant, Hartford, Conn., November 9, 1880. 

My Dear Sir — Thank you for the invitation to the reception 

to be given on the evening of the 15th to the veteran Mr. Weed. 
It will give me pleasure to go, and I think I can do so, unless 
something unexpected turns up. 

Yours sincerely, 

CHAS. DUDLEY WARNER. 

H. Clay Lukens, Esq., Press Club, N. V. 



Despatch from Mr. Mae Ke liar. 

Philadelphia, Pa., November 15, 1880- 
H. C. Lukens, Press Club, N. Y. : 

Pray have me excused, owing to temporary disability. I unite 
with you cordially in congratulations and honor to the grand 
old printer. Will be happy to attend his next anniversary. 

THOMAS MacKELLAR. 



Despatch from the Editor of Progress. 

Philadelphia, Pa., November 15, 1880. 
H. C. Lukens, Esq., Press Club, N. Y. : 

After all arrangements made, I am compelled to decline the 
distinguished honor of paying homage to the illustrious editor, my 
old and dear friend Thurlow Weed. 

J. W. FORNEY. 



From the Editor of the Richmond County Gazette. 

Stapleton, Staten Island, N. Y., Nov. 15, 1880. 
My Dear Sir — Please give to the Press Club my hearty 
thanks for its kind invitation for this evening. I regret very much 
that I shall not be able to be present in person to extend my 



32 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

congratulations to him, whom we of the younger generation have 
learned to regard with so much respect and admiration. 

Yours very truly, 

ERNEST F. BIRMINGHAM. 
To the Secy N. Y. Press Club. 



From R. G. White. 

igt/i Nov., 1880. 

DEAR SIR — In justice to myself, I must say that the invita- 
tion with which you honored me to meet Mr. Weed did not reach 
me until this afternoon. 

Very respectfully yours, 

RICHARD GRANT WHITE. 
Wm. N. PENNEY, Esq., President, etc. 



Despatch from Mr. Carpenter. 

Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 15, 1880. 
President Press Club, 119 Nassau Street, N. Y. — I regret 
that I cannot be with you this evening. Regards to all. I hope 
it will be many years before we wear the weed for Thurlow. 

S. CARPENTER. 



Despatch from Mr. Davids the day after the Reception. 

POUGHKEEPSIE EAGLE OFFICE, ) 

POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y., Nov. 1 6, l88o. ) 

W. N. PENNEY, Esq., President Press Club, Nassau St., N Y. : 

Oh ! Oh ! What a good time it was ; I am so thankful. Good 
luck to you all ! 

GEORGE W. DAVIDS. 



NEWSPAPER COMMENT. 



The following extracts from various newspapers are selected 
from a bundle of clippings : 

Atchison (Kansas) Champion. 

The venerable Thurlow Weed was entertained by the New 
York Press Club on Monday evening, his birthday anniversary. 
Mr. Weed is in his eighty-third year. Few men now living have 
had a larger influence in the affairs of this Nation than has he. 
He has been the intimate and trusted friend of many of the most 
distinguished men of America, and was the special confidant and 
co-laborer of Lincoln and Seward during the great war. Mr. 
Weed still takes an active interest in political affairs, and pub- 
lished a number of interesting and valuable letters during the 
late campaign. 



The Saratogian. 

The reception of the New York Press Club tendered to Thur- 
low Weed on Monday evening was a notable affair. Nearly all 
the leading journalists of the metropolis were present, and the 
remarks of Mr. Weed were highly interesting. The veteran edi- 
tor has been a power in this State and in the Nation for half a 
century, and his influence has been the result of his great ability 
and his intense devotion to whatever cause he espoused. He 
has never held office, but his power has dwarfed that of all other 
men in the political affairs of this State, notwithstanding. May 
he live long to receive the gratitude of those he has so long and 
so faithfully served, and of the party of which he was one of the 
most conspicuous and influential founders. 



34 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

Lockport Journal. 

The occasion brought out many interesting facts and anec- 
dotes, and was altogether delightful. 



New York Mail. 

Among the most honored guests at the Press Club Reception 
to Thurlow Weed, last evening, was his successor as editor of the 
Albany Evening Journal, Mr. George Dawson, whose influence 
through that journal on the politics of this State, the past year, 
has been very potential and beneficial. 



New York Commercial Advertiser. 

The compliment paid by the New York Press Club to the ven- 
erable, but intellectually vigorous, Thurlow Weed, last evening, 
was a most impressive, heartfelt and touching testimonial of the 
affectionate esteem and high honor in which he is held by all 
grades of the profession by and in which he won the power he so 
long held and vigorously exercised. With all those whose daily 
work goes to the making of the newspapers of to-day, Mr. Weed 
feels the liveliest sympathy, whether they are editors, subordinate 
writers, reporters or type-setters. He has been a member of each 
of these classes, and in each won his position of mastery by hard 
work, persistence and sheer ability. In one respect, his example 
is far better than were those of such brilliant and great journal- 
ists as Raymond and Greeley, whose beginnings and sad endings 
he witnessed, and who illustrated, by contrast, Mr. Weed's wis- 
dom in preferring the reality of power to the shadow, the editorial 
office to any political office. 



Kingston Freeman. 

Mr. Weed furnishes standing proof that the fatiguing duties of 
journalism can be endured to a good old age, with a proper 
regard for sanitary laws. 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 35 

Albany Express. 

It only needed the presence of Horace Greeley to make the 
gathering complete ; and he was represented in a peculiar sense, 
by his successor, Mr. Whitelaw Reid. The organizers of 
former years are the observers of to-day ; critics now as then, it 
may be, from force of habit, but rather critical observers, than 
active critics in the newspaper field. As journalists who led the 
way in enterprises which were as creditable in their day, as news- 
paper enterprises are now ; as politicians who have been identi- 
fied not only with much that was partisan, but with more that 
was patriotic; these veterans united in conceding the leadership 
in other days to the former editor of the livening Journal. The 
disagreements of the past are gone; the sharp controversies and 
fierce conflicts are left to history ; for the warriors of other days 
are friends, and now as then the plume of Thurlow Weed towers 
above them all. It is notable that the New York Tribune leads 
in this Press tribute ; and it is as creditable as it is notable, for 
thus are the wounds of conflict best healed. Mr. Weed has 
peculiar claims upon public regard, and upon the editorial pro- 
fession. He belongs to the old stock ; he rose from the case, to 
be the counselor of men who led and even ruled Nations. His 
active days are numbered, but his life has been prolonged to 
witness the final triumph of every principle to which he devoted 
his energies, and of the party to which he was proud to belong, 
in its greatest conflict with its ancient enemy. His last days are 
days of peace. 

. New York Telegram. 

The occasion was a noteworthy one, for it is hardly possible 
that so many veteran journalists will ever be drawn together for 
a like purpose again. 

Albany Journal. 

Included in the company invited to meet him were many of 
the most distinguished representatives of the professions, and 
other prominent citizens. These gentlemen vied with the mem- 
bers of the press in making known their distinguished considera- 
tion for the illustrious guest of the evening. It is on such 



36 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

occasions that youth is renewed and strength revived. Let us 
hope that Mr. Weed gathered vitality enough from last evening's 
graceful and hearty reception to last him for many, many years 
to come. 

West field (N. Y.) Republican. 

The occasion was indeed a memorable one. General James 
Watson Webb, a cotemporary knight of the quill, was one of the 
honored guests, and men as distinguished in more modern days 
in law, politics, music, the drama and on the press took an active 
part in the speechifying ; and most of them took a very fair share 
of the creature comforts which were bountifully supplied to 
refresh the inner man after the talking-. 



Utica Observer. 

• 

It is now over sixty years since Mr. Weed left Utica, where he 
learned his trade, and enlisted in the war of 1812. He worked 
over by the canal, where Walter Martin's now stands. He was 
not considered the most valuable hand in the establishment. 
When another was drafted, the proprietor said : " I can't spare 
him. I wish it was Weed." When young Weed heard this, he 
resolved to volunteer as a substitute for the drafted man. 

The western part of this State— Rochester — at that time 
offered a fine field for pushing enterprise. Thither Mr. Weed 
made his way, and established the Anti-Masonic Enquirer. Dur- 
ing the Anti-Masonic excitement here, in 1826 and '27, he was 
twice elected to the Assembly. In 1830, he removed to Albany 
and began his career on the Evening Journal there, which con- 
tinued until 1862. In 1865, he removed to New York, and 
edited for a short time the Commercial Advertiser, but retired in 
1866. 

The foregoing outline sketch of his life carries no impression 
of what he has done, or of how he has done it. He made 
William H. Seward Governor. He gave Horace Greeley his 
start as an editor. He held himself aloof from office-holding, 
but " invented " others for almost every occasion. His last 
political exploit was the nomination of John A. Dix as Governor 
in 1872. Dix remained almost alone among those with whom 
Weed had been intimate. He got an obscure fellow named 



RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 37 

Clark to nominate him in the Convention, and Clark mistook this 
permission for original honor, and has always since claimed the 
sole credit of making Dix Governor, in that year of general 
disaster to Democracy. But Clark is forgotten, and Thurlow 
Weed lives. His reminiscences of public men are very 
interesting. 

He was active in the convention of 1866, when Hoffman and 
Pruyn were nominated. A young Democrat who saw him at 
Saratoga at that time, and talked with him, remarked : " Mr. 
Weed is losing his powers ; why, he hesitates when he speaks, so 
much that it is painful to hear him." An old Whig was heard 
to chuckle and to remark ; " He always hesitates. Don't believe 
that he is losing his powers on that account. If so, he would 
have lost them fifty years ago." 

He is a very generous man. He had an old enemy in the 
person of Edwin Croswell, once editor of the Albany Argus, to 
whom he had not spoken during a twenty years' residence. 
When Croswell became poor, Weed started one New Year's 
morning to make him a present. He gave $5,000 himself and 
soon collected $20,000 more, so that before the day was over he 
was able to present $25,000 to Mr. Croswell. It is by acts such 
as this that Mr. Weed has kept himself from growing old, and 
has retained a place in the affection of the Press Club and other 
organizations of the young workers in journalism. 



Elmira Advertiser. 

The recent gathering in New York on the occasion of honoring 
Thurlow Weed, by the Press Club, brought out considerable 
knowledge of the political past of this State. The reference to 
the firm of Weed, Seward & Co. could hardly have been avoided 
by Whitelaw Reid, who spoke especially of this celebrated 
triumvirate. The term took its rise from Greeley's notable letter 
to Seward, after he broke with him, in the distribution of the 
spoils, warning him that " the firm of Weed, Seward & Co. was 
dissolved." It was years after, though, that it appeared in print 
in the Tribune, when Greeley took occasion to refer to the date 
his antagonism began. The death of Greeley and consequent 
absence was a serious drawback to the correct revival of the cir- 
cumstances at the above meeting. The letter made the dissolu- 
tion. Neither Seward nor Weed understood Greeley. The 



38 RECEPTION TO MR. WEED. 

latter had labored in humble drudgery to advance the in- 
terests of the party, but when success was reached his claims 
were overlooked. He would not press them personally, and the 
others did not give them due consideration. Seward had too 
many political adherents to provide for, and Weed, who never 
wanted office for himself, supposed that Greeley was equally 
indifferent. The latter, however, was a bankrupt editor at the 
time the party succeeded, and he felt that Seward should have 
tendered him the New York post-office, instead of giving it to a 
mere party hack. He labored hard to obtain reduction of post- 
age, and he saw many abuses in the post-office that he could 
remove. " The result was that the editor of the Log Cabin, who 
did more to elect Harrison than any other man, was treated with 
a degree of neglect that he could not but intensely feel. This 
very feeling is mentioned by Gibbon, as his own experience when 
in the House of Commons. ' I was counted in the day of battle,' 
says the historian, ' but I was overlooked in the division of 
the spoils.' Greeley supposed himself to be viewed with a degree 
of contemptuous indifference, and his proud spirit could not 
brook the insult. He ceased to admire Seward, and as Weed 
was a supporter of the latter, a coolness sprang up between these 
two great editors. 

Frank Leslie s Illustrated Paper. 
Mr. Weed's birthday was also recognized by hundreds of 
friends who called at his residence, to tender their congratula- 
tions, and many letters and telegrams were received. All the 
callers were received in the cozy reception-room, which was fra- 
grant with the perfume of flowers. One of the handsomest floral 
designs sent to the octogenarian was the representation of a very 
large horseshoe, with a shield of red, white and blue in the center. 
One of the smallest floral tokens was a simple bouquet, which 
Mr. Weed received enthusiastically. * * * Five of Mr. 
Weed's grandchildren sent him a large basket of the finest fruit, 
with an affectionate message attached. This basket of fruit was 
placed upon an immense silver salver and given a conspicuous 
place in the room. This salver was presented to him by a num- 
ber of the leading merchants of New York in 1854, when Mr. 
Weed was editor of the Albany Evening Journal. The salver is 
over three feet long, of solid silver, and weighs fourteen pounds. 
It is an elaborate piece of artistic workmanship. 




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